Fathers, Meet Daughters
by Arhtea
Summary: Written for The Golden Snitch. Years after a whiskey-filled night in a bar, a lawyer shows up at Severus Snape's home with a surprise.
1. Chapter 1

**Written for The Golden Snitch (Hufflepuff, Hogwarts). [Challenge] South Korea, between facts and fiction**

 **Prince Yeoning ( the 21st king of Joseon)**

 **Prompt 1:** Write about someone meeting their father years later.

 **Word Count:** 1233

* * *

 **Fathers, Meet Daughters**

Severus Snape stared at the paper in front of him in complete and utter disbelief. He turned it between his fingers as if hoping that it would suddenly evaporate. It did not and neither did the ancient-looking man in a smart black suit sitting on his lumpy couch. Every time Severus glared at him, he just sent back a happy smile as if he was not the reason for the situation the Potion Master suddenly found himself in.

"I can assure you, this is real," he stated finally.

"Oh is it? And what am I supposed to do with it, pray tell?" sneered Snape.

The smile on the man's face did not falter. "The customary thing is to meet the child in question and then to take her in. I am sure, that you can make this place… _habitable…_ with some effort."

Severus ignored the insult towards his home, threw the paper on the table and slumped down on one of the armchairs. For a while he wracked his brain over and over again, trying to make sense of the situation. And his mind came back to the same scene over and over again. It was the only thing that fit the date on the birth certificate.

It was a night that started in a seedy muggle bar, drinking horrible whiskey and thinking of Lily Evans. And ended in some hotel, in the arms of a woman he had forgotten soon after. Well, it seemed the woman had gotten something more permanent to remember him by, because she had given birth to a daughter nine months later.

"How did you find me?" Severus asked some minutes later. It struck him, that that was probably the insensitive thing to ask, given that there were so many other questions. Like what had happened to the mother and what was his kid like.

It seemed though, that the lawyer had seen all kinds before, for he stayed calm and smiled. "We have our ways. They knew you at the bar you two met. It wasn't that hard. Especially since you went back there after. So would you like to meet your daughter?"

That _was_ a curious question. Did he? Not really. He was more than a little terrified at having this dumped on him the day after he found out that Dumbledore had hired Remus Lupin for the new schoolyear. He certainly didn't have time for some snotty kid-

And yet she was his blood…The old and overly friendly lawyer was still smiling and Severus snarled. Then he nodded. "Alright, yes. I'd like to meet her."

The man's face lit up and he leapt up with considerable agility and enthusiasm for his age. "Excellent, because she is already here!"

Of course she was. He'd probably planned it all Severus would not be able to say no. He folded his arms but he'd already said yes and it was the fastest way to get the lawyer the hell out of his house so he stood too.

She was sitting in his pathetic excuse for a garden, on a suitcase, her arms folded and staring at the street. There was something so horribly familiar about the scene that it made Severus stop in his tracks. The girl was small and skinny and disappearing in a huge black leather jacket. Her feet were stretched out over the lawn, big boots resting against a rock. As mentioned, her arms were folded and Severus saw that her fingernails were painted pitch black.

She either didn't hear them approaching or she didn't care. Either way she stood still and didn't acknowledge them. The lawyer, who's name still escaped Severus, took a step forward. "So, Arsenia, this is your father:"

"Oh, brilliant." her voice was just the perfect mixture of bored contempt that Severus knew. If he had been capable of that much self-reflection, he'd have thought someone had held a mirror to his younger self.

"Arsenia, please look at me. I'd like to introduce you two." the lawyer coax.

"Just tell me which boarding school I'll be shipped off to, and we can conclude this family reunion." the girl replied.

"Hogwart's." Severus went over it later in his head again and again and yet he could not figure out what had possessed him to say that to this muggle girl. She had to be one, because she'd have been showing signs of magic years ago if she wasn't so it hardly seemed appropriate to introduce him to the wizarding world right away.

Yet at least it got a reaction out of her. She turned around, her long brown hair whipping around in the wind and stared back at him with two hostile greenish eyes. "Really? The first words out of your mouth are the school you can stick me in so you don't have to bother with me? Not even a "hello, how are you doing, I'm your father"? That's just brilliant."

Severus arched an eyebrow. He was used to all kinds of annoying brats. He was even used to open hostility but he was not used to the memories that washed over him looking at the kid. He'd thought he'd locked the memory of his one awkward night with a stranger away tight but suddenly there it was. Then he managed to get back on track and replied in an irate voice: "Well, you did ask. And on the other hand you didn't say any of those things either." It was not perhaps the most eloquent answer but there it was.

On her part the girl actually smiled. Fine. Let's go again. I am Arsenia Blake, daughter of Margaret Blake. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"I am Severus Snape, your father." replied Severus.

The lawyer smiled happily. "There, now we are all getting along! I'll leave you to it!"

Severus opened his mouth to object but the man was far too quick for his age and he was out of there. Looking around, he didn't even understand which way the lawyer had gone.

Arsenia smirked. "Yeah, he does that. He thinks that if he is quick enough to disappear, then maybe this guardian will actually stick around. So far it hasn't worked out great."

"Yeah…" Severus pinched the bridge of his nose and looked down at her. "Well, then I guess you'd better come in."

"Or what? The neighbors will start to think bad things about you? In this dump?"

Severus froze and shook his head but she bit her lip. "Sorry, that was mean." she blushed slightly, then straightened and stood.

"Has it been many?" Severus asked, "Guardians, I mean." God, he hoped not. He couldn't possibly really take her in. She didn't fit in their world. At the same time he didn't want to be yet another in a long list of disappointments.

"A few. For some reason none of my mom's relatives want a moody teenager on their hands. But I'm sure you'll be different." he couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not and he didn't have time to figure it out, because suddenly she linked arms with him and smiled. "Now, shall we go talk over tea about this Hogwarts you're sending me to?"

And thus before the door even closed behind his daughter, Severus was already debating how unethical it would be to just obliviate some things our of her mind.


	2. Chapter 2

**I didn't actually mean to continue this, but I guess now I am.**

* * *

Sitting in the kitchen staring at his daughter Severus did not know what to say. Arsenia was quiet, stirring her untouched cup of tea. She seemed to be waiting for him to start but her mood had soured again and she was frowning staring at the amber liquid.

"So, what kind of a name is Arsenia?" he asked, for want of anything better to say.

"What kind of a name is Severus?" she shot back.

Another couple of minutes of silence passed. Severus drank a few sips of his tea and then tried again. "So, the lawyer. Did he just leave you here with me?"

"It would seem so, wouldn't it?" Arsenia shrugged. "I guess. I think he might have had some private detective first ascertain that you don't eat babies and kittens. But he doesn't get paid nearly enough for dragging me back and forth between guardians. I think now he is just desperate. Anyone not on the Most Wanted list will do at this point."

"Ah."

Arsenia sent him a glare. "If you want, I can give you his number. He'll be right back to pick me up if you say you don't want me."

"Do you want him to?"

"The group home I had to stay in last night had roaches."

"Right." Severus took a sip of his tea. "Why do your guardians keep sending you back?"

"Because _I_ eat babies and kittens?" She stopped stirring the tea, threw the spoon on the table and folded her arms.

Her irritation however was now rubbing off on Severus. He was already agitated from having this new information dump on him and he was having a hard time not snapping at her. Or just giving her detention (which in this case would have just meant sending her upstairs to the spare bedroom). But by the way she sat there, her arms folded and frowning, he was sure she'd try to leg it out the window. Probably succeed too and then he'd have to chase her halfway through the neighborhood. Cokeworth wasn't exactly a place he'd feel good about letting his daughter explore alone.

"What happened to your mother?"

A flash of something went over Arsenia's face. She straightened in the chair. "They ki-I mean, she died."

"How?"

"It was a car crash."

"But you're saying someone killed her?"

"Well, yeah, the driver." She folded her arms again, suddenly becoming much more defensive. For all the ways she was like him, she certainly wasn't as good a liar. Severus hesitated only a second before trying legilimency. It was only a little unethical and he wasn't getting anywhere, he reasoned. Anyway his conscience could handle one more small violation of privacy. He'd make it up to her later.

The thoughts were jumbled. She was angry. She hated change. She wasn't too impressed with Cokeworth and Severus but on the other hand she didn't want to have move again. A car speeding up, Arsenia seeing the crash. Blood. She'd been murdered. Even though he'd known the girl's mother very briefly, he was slightly shocked at the revelation.

"What did you just do?" Arsenia narrowed her eyes.

"What?" Severus was for a second caught off guard. Could she really have sensed her presence?

Arsenia shook her head. "Just now. You looked like you were focusing on something and then you're mouth fell open liked you'd just discovered an even blacker jumper to wear."

Severus mentally kicked himself for his inability to control his shock. He really shouldn't have let that happen. He'd certainly had enough practice that he should have been able to control his emotions at all times. After a second of consideration, he wrote it down to the shocks of the day.

"You're not trying some fortune teller act on me, are you?" Arsenia continued. She shook her head. "Already had a guardian like that. She was fun. Kept seeing doom in my future. Said someone had cursed me and tried to extort money from my trust fund to remove it. But nah. I like begin cursed." She threw Severus a glance and softened a bit. "It's okay if you are. Just don't start breakfast with loud proclamations how horrible I'll die. It makes eating a tad awkward. And I'm not going to pay you for cleansing my aura or anything."

"I'm not a fortune teller." Severus managed, as he processed the new information. If that was an example of her previous guardians, it was little wonder she was expecting the bare minimum of him, willing to settle for anyone barely normal who'd take her. He sighed and took another sip of tea. "I'm actually a teacher."

"At Hogwarts?" Oh great, she also had a great memory for small details. "I have never heard of that school but I'd kind of like the idea of going to the same school where you teach at." Her face had for once lit up.

"You can't go there." Severus blurted out without thinking. He was technically right. He could not just spring the wizarding world on an angry kid who had seen her mother get murdered. He could have however been quite a bit more tactful about it.

"Oh brilliant, so a boarding school I _can't_ be sent to. What is it, a reform school for young criminals? Well, you sure look you can scare someone straight." the girl replied acidly. She stood up. "Is there a room I could use to change clothes?"

"Yes. Upstairs is the guest bedroom." Severus was actually glad she wanted to end the conversation because he was really unsure where to go from there. He stood up. "The bathroom is downstairs. I'll just go and find you a towel."

She stopped at the kitchen door and bit her lip slightly. "My mom liked detective novels and latin. I'm lucky I wasn't named Iustitia." then she turned and walked off.


	3. Chapter 3

That night Severus sat in the living room nursing a glass of firewhiskey. After their conversation in the kitchen, Arsenia had mostly disappeared into her room. Severus had brought fish and chips from a local pub and she'd come down for dinner but they hadn't talked a lot. They just ate in silence, she quietly thanked him for the meal and disappeared upstairs again. After a moment of hesitation Severus had put a spell on her bedroom window to alert him if she went exploring but other than that he'd left her alone.

Only now, that he was rather confident that she'd gone to sleep, he hadn't checked, but it had been quiet now for about an hour and it was close to midnight, he poured himself the alcohol and sat down to ponder the situation. It was a lot to process. First the fact that he even had a kid. Then top it off with her mother being dead. No, not just dead. Murdered. Now him in charge of the kid. It was all too much. And yet…

He was a father. And for whatever it was worth, he didn't want to be like _his_ father. His father, Severus thought bitterly, was a useless drunkard who only knew how to shout and act out violently. He had not really even been worthy of the title "father".

Severus sighed. He'd never wanted to have kids. He was always afraid that he would not be a very good parent himself, severely lacking role models. His track record in treating students, though he'd hardly admit it even to himself, was not great either. But now he had no choice. The kid was there and he had to do something.

To make matters worse, as he was pondering the situation, the flames in his fireplace turned green. He nearly dropped the glass and jumped up from his chair. Before Albus Dumbledore's head was completely out, Severus had already grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him through the floo. It was certainly not the most polite way to greet his employer but Severus could not risk Arsenia coming down for a glass of water and seeing the fire show.

Albus Dumbledore fell on the carpet in front of the fireplace and scrambled to get up, brushing off the dust. "My dear boy-" he began but Severus cut him off: "I have someone over." he replied sharply.

"Ah." Albus nodded. "In that case I am sorry for calling on you unannounced I was just concerned with how we left things in the morning."

Severus arched an eyebrow. Sure, he was concerned. He was concerned that Severus would pull a disappearing act on him so he would not be able to convince him to accept Remus Lupin as the new DADA professor.

"Well, you're here now." he replied and sat back down again. "What can I do for you, headmaster?"

"I wanted to make sure you're alright after you stormed off."

"You're appointing Sirius Black's best friend as a professor. The same year that Black has escaped from Azkaban. You are putting him close to-" he took a breath, "To Lily's son. You don't think that's dangerous?"

Albus sighed. "I understand your concern but I don't think Lupin has been in contact with Black. And you understand I don't have many choices. After one of my professors got killed and the other one is in St. Mungo? Not many want to risk it. Out of those who do, Lupin is the only one really qualified."

"You're going to hire him no matter what I say, aren't you?" Severus folded his arms and stared at his glass of firewhiskey. After a moment though he looked up. "You do know what he kept whispering in Azkaban? He is at Hogwarts. Just kept repeating that."

"The ministry is taking precautions. And I trust I can count on you to keep a very close eye on our new hire and the boy?"

Grudgingly Severus nodded. "Of course I'll keep an eye James Potter's spawn as his father's best friend tries to kill him." he spat _._ It wasn't as if he had anywhere else to go. Out in the wizarding world Albus Dumbledore was still only one of the very few ready to hire him even so long after the fall of Lord Voldemort. He had made his feeble attempt to argue but he'd always known that Albus would do what Albus wanted. This time he simply didn't have the strength to fight it.

"Good. Then I believe we will manage. Only,"

"Only you want me to brew him Wolfsbane too so no one finds out his furry little secret?" Severus shook his head. "Of course I will. I will help make sure she doesn't eat any of the students." And _this_ was the most qualified Albus could find. Very bloody believable. Or maybe he was intentionally trying to lure Black over, Severus thought spitefully. He would not put it past the man.

"Fine, I will brew it. Now you can go back knowing all is well with whatever you're planning." he repeated, hoping to get the old man out of his house as quickly as possible so he could return to sulking with his glass of firewhiskey.

Albus smiled warmly. "I knew you'd see reason in the end," he stated happily. "Now, I shall leave you with your gue˗"

The spell went off, indicating that someone had opened the window. Without a word Severus shot up from his chair, spilling the glass of alcohol all over the coffee table in the process, and stormed up the stairs.


	4. Chapter 4

The door to the bedroom was ajar. And the window towards the garden was wide open. Arsenia though was inside the room, examining the window, biting down on her lower lip and looking thoughtful. "I don't see any wires!" she declared as Severus burst in.

"Why would there be wires?"

Arsenia shrugged. "I don't know but you were upstairs awfully quickly. As if there was an alarm." She looked at the window again and for good measure ran her fingers across the frame. "Nah, no wires. Curious." she concluded, closed the window and plopped down on the bed, then pulled out a notebook and scribbled something down.

Severus looked back and forth between the window and the girl, trying to comprehend the situation. "You thought there would be an alarm?"

"Always expect the unexpected." she replied cheerily. "And always have an exit route." She finished writing and put the notebook away.

Just then, as Severus was about to ask what she had to be prepared for, the head of Albus Dumbledore appeared at the door, followed shortly by his entire body. "Severus, won't you introduce me to your guest?" he asked, those bright blue eyes already sizing her up.

Arsenia stared back, one eyebrow arched and biting her lip. "I think you have something confused, sir. I think Severus should introduce _me_ to _his_ guest." she replied, her voice suddenly rather sweet.

Severus narrowed his eyes, making a mental note that the conversation about the window was not finished. "Albus, meet Arsenia Blake, my…" he hesitated but then saw Arsenia now arch an eyebrow at him in an entirely different manner. At Albus it was meant to convey her disapproval, now it was daring him to come up with something other than the truth. "…My daughter." he finished, staring back at her. "Daughter, this is Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of the school I work at."

"He doesn't look like a director of a reform school should. They are usually a whole lot sterner." stated Arsenia, "And I would know."

"I do not work at a reform school for wayward teenagers-" Severus began, paused abruptly and shook his head, "Why would you know what a director of a reform school should look like?"

Arsenia leaned towards him and smiled conspiratorially. "Well, I know they're not supposed to look like they escaped from a retirement home's Halloween party!"

"That does not answer my question!"

"Doesn't it?"

Albus Dumbledore on his part examined the interaction between them with a slightly amused look in his eyes. "It is a pleasure to meet you, miss Blake."

"Likewise, mister Dumbledore." she did her best to smile and accepted Albus's extended hand.

"I didn't know Severus had a daughter."

"No, and you should have seen the look on his face when I showed up on his lawn! Judging by that neither did he."

Severus slowly tuned out the voices as he looked around. The room was in a rather alarming condition. She had apparently gone through it meticulously. The doors to the wardrobe were open. So were the drawers of the writing desk. Books had been torn out of the bookshelf and in heaps on the floor. Her suitcase lay unopened at the foot of the bed but her handbag was open with objects haphazardly thrown around.

"What in Merlin's name has happened here?" he demanded loudly.

Arsenia turned back towards him, her eyes round and innocent. "Whatever do you mean, father dear? And who is Merlin?"

"I mean this mess! This place looks like a hurricane has gone through it!"

"Oh, this." She bit her lip sheepishly and looked down. "I...I was curious."

"At what, the contents of my floor?" he was pretty sure he spied boards at the bed, that had been pried up slightly.

Arsenia followed his glance, quickly stepped on the board and smiled back at him. He scowled. It was highly irritating how her response to what he considered his death glare and then end of all arguments was the perfect look of innocence any Slytherin would have been proud of.

"So, tell me more about this school, dad!"

"What school?"

"The one you work at! I've never heard of it and I thought I knew all the reform schools I could be sent to. Unless it is an all-boys school…" she trailed off. "But then Tristan would have known about it."

Severus stared at her. She was speaking words. Individually the words made sense. In a sentence they raised a lot of questions. "What. In. Merlin's. Name. Are. You. Talking. About?"

"Who. For. Goodness. Sake. Is. Merlin?" she replied cheerfully.

"Stop changing the subject and answer me."

"I asked first."

"No, you did not!" the vein on Severus's forehead was acting strangely.

"Enough, enough!" Albus raised his hands in a trying to pacify them.

"She started it!" Severus began, not really realizing how childish that sounded.

Arsenia folded her arms and sat down on the bed, pouting but not in any way less childish. "Tattletale!"

"How am I a tattletale? He was standing right here!"

Albus gave his potions' professor an amused glance. "Calm down, Severus. Be reasonable about this."

Severus arched an eyebrow then shook his head. "Fine." He didn't feel like being reasonable. He had never been too good at that. And that girl was getting on his last nerve. What right did she even have to show up in here and disrupt everything?

"Now," Albus smiled, "Let's start from the beginning. Arsenia, Severus wanted to know why you'd torn up the floorboards."

Arsenia bit her lip and glanced down at her folded arms. "I didn't tear it up. It was already loose. I was just curious to see if there was a reason." She shook her head. "But there was nothing. Just some dust."

Albus nodded. "That wasn't so difficult, was it. Now Severus, I believe Arsenia was asking about the school we both work at!"

Severus glared at him. "Yes, she was," he replied slowly. "And if she had listened then I'd have told her that it was a private school for students with…special abilities."

"But I'm not allowed to attend. How curious!" Arsenia cut in.

Albus sighed and took a step towards the girl. "It is nothing personal. It is just a school for…different kind of people."

"Really? Judging by how you two look it's a school for unpaid actors!" Arsenia shook her head. "It doesn't matter anyway. It was silly to assume that my father would want anything to do with me!" she grabbed her bag, pulled out some sort of a machine and what Severus recognized to be headphones, put them on and turned away from them.

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose for what felt like a millionth time this evening. He was feeling a headache coming on. He didn't know what to say to his daughter and he wasn't sure he _wanted_ to say anything to her anyway. She was rude and insufferable and her damned mood changes kept catching him off guard. Furthermore, Albus had that look in his eyes that he had _questions._ No, not just questions. _Personal questions._

Finally he gave a resigned sigh. "Come down. I'll put the kettle on!"


	5. Chapter 5

Albus leaned back in his chair and stroked his beard thoughtfully with his left hand while holding his teacup with the right. "So you have a daughter you didn't know about."

"And who I am somehow now responsible for." Severus nodded. After a bit of hesitation he had confessed almost the whole thing with only a few exceptions regarding details he didn't find to be necessary for the older man to know.

"Indeed," Albus took another sip of tea, "so what are you going to do about it?"

"I really don't know. She's a muggle." as Severus said it, he glanced at the kitchen door to make sure that his daughter wasn't listening in. So far she seemed far too nosy for her own good and on his part, Severus had already let slip far too many things for his liking.

"The ministry would not want you to introduce her to the Wizarding World," Albus stated sadly. It sounded like this girl had lived her whole life in the muggle world and as she was young, she was far too much of a risk. The ministry would be worried she'd share the secret with a wrong friend and they would not see Severus's familial relation as enough of a reason to take that risk.

"I don't want to introduce her to our world either!" Severus snapped, a bit more harshly than he had wanted to. He meant it though. He could not bring her into his world. She would be in terrible danger from people from Severus's past. Some followers of the Dark Lord who had gotten away without punishment, would be very unimpressed to learn he'd fathered a child with a muggle. Not to mention that he had the feeling this girl, once introduced to the Wizarding World, would never stop pulling at threads until she'd found out every single secret about it.

No, it was just plain better to keep her out of his world. Better for her, better for him and less of a headache for the Wizarding World.

Severus reached out and poured himself some more tea. "I can't send her back either. By the way that lawyer talked about her...she's been shuffled between relatives. They are scrubbing the bottom of the barrel with me as it is." Severus was fully aware of being the last resort for these people and if he was honest, he still wished someone else had stepped up before it came to him.

The headmaster sighed. "Am I going to have to start looking for a new potions master? I was really counting on you this year, Severus."

Albus's words made Severus groan inside. He was a good man. He really was. But he was a man who looked at the bigger picture. And the bigger picture was speaking volumes about how this would affect Severus's ability to help if, or in Albus's opinion when, the Dark Lord returned. It was speaking to Albus about how his plan involving Remus Lupin, what it was, Severus knew not, would fall apart if he could not find a potions master who'd discreetly brew Wolfsbane.

"I'm not quitting." he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. As far as his position in the school, nothing had changed and even though it would have been noble, he could not imagine giving up his whole life in the magical world just for the virtual stranger that was his daughter. "I am going to figure this out myself. You don't have to worry, Albus. I'll find a boarding school or something and I will figure it out." He felt kind of dirty even saying it. She had a clear disdain for being shipped off. But he really couldn't see another option if he were to stay at Hogwarts.

Albus smiled and Severus could have sworn he seemed a bit relieved to hear that. "If you need anything. For her or for yourself—"

Severus cut him off: "Yeah, I know. Thank you, Albus." The older man was probably sincere but he had no desire to ask anything of the headmaster. If he'd had his way, Albus would never have learned of Arsenia. "I probably won't be able to make it to Hogwarts before the first staff meeting. I have things to take care of here."

"Of course. Take all the time you need, Severus." Albus stood. "And speaking of which, I believe now it's time for me to take my leave!"

* * *

Next morning Severus actually made an effort. Which in his case meant making breakfast. Arsenia's mood had changed and after a night's sleep, she seemed convincingly happy. At least she didn't bombard him with questions he had no desire of answering. Severus on his part decided not to bring up the idea of a boarding school just yet. This, after a brief inner battle of whether it would be crueler for him to lead her on and make her assume she would not be sent to one or to immediately burst her bubble and possibly leave her hating him. He decided that trying to soften the blow was better.

Instead they talked about as neutral topics as possible. She mentioned she had lived in London for a short while and that she had never been to Cokeworth before. Severus put all those pieces of information aside to think over later. He was surprised she didn't ask much of his background but he was too thankful to dwell on it.

"I'm sorry I was rude to your boss." she stated all of a sudden, stabbing at a fried egg on the plate.

Severus shook his head. "He'll get over it. He has seen all kinds of people. Worse than a moody child anyway."

"I'm still sorry...I hope it didn't come back to bite you in any way." Arsenia replied. "But I meant it. He didn't look like a headmaster."

Severus shrugged, not really wanting to stay on that dangerous topic. "He likes to...confuse people sometimes." It was strictly speaking only a theory of his, but Severus always assumed Albus acted this way to gain an advantage over people who did not know what to make of his behavior.

Arsenia snorted. "I don't think I like that. It seems manipulative."

"Indeed." Severus took another sip of coffee. "Tell me, why would you know what a reform school headmaster looks like?"

Now it was Arsenia's turn to blush and look like this was a very risky turn in the conversation for her. She stared down at her bacon for a moment then coughed. "Ispentacoupleofweeksinone."

Severus arched an eyebrow. "Could you repeat it?"

She stabbed her fork into a piece of salad and bit her lip before forcing herself to look up. "I spent a couple of weeks in one. But they kicked me out due to bad behavior."

Severus had just taken a sip of coffee and nearly choked on it. He coughed and reached out for a napkin that Arsenia helpfully pushed forward. "You got...kicked out of a...school for reforming young criminals? For bad behavior?"

She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Still, it seems like an important thing to talk about."

"I wasn't there of my own free will, alright? I wasn't supposed to be there." Arsenia shook her head. "I didn't even do anything to get sent there. Not anything serious at least—"

There was a knock on the door. Severus nearly jumped out of his seat. He looked down at the girl. "This is not over. We will discuss it in more detail later." Then he stood and went to answer the door.

He didn't exactly like how hopeful Arsenia's face was when she looked up. She was a sneaky little thing and he didn't really want her to get a chance to come up with something. On the other hand, a reform school was something he could actually check out. There would be records that would be available to him as a guardian. He still had that lawyer's card somewhere. It was the start to unlocking the mystery of who exactly Arsenia was and how to handle her.

Severus pulled the front door open without thinking and immediately felt the urge to slam it shut again. In front of him stood the unexpected figure of one Lucius Malfoy.


	6. Chapter 6

Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape had quite a warm relationship. Lucius had been in his final year when Severus entered Hogwarts and had taken the other boy under his wing. After Hogwarts, Severus still looked up to him and was rather proud that the usually snobbish Pureblood wanted to be friends with him. Over time, Lucius had also relied on Severus after the fall of Lord Voldemort, when he claimed to have been under the influence of the imperius curse. He didn't of course know of Severus's defection and Severus saw him as the only Death Eater in front of who he felt guilty for betraying Lord Voldemort. Not because he believed in the cause in any way, the threat to Lily had shattered all that, but because as much as he didn't want to cause Lily's death, he also didn't want to create a situation where Lucius ended up in Azkaban or dead.

He was also quite fond of Lucius's son Draco. At least to the extent that he was capable of being fond of any child. He tolerated the boy far more than any other dunderhead and allowed him to get away with quite a bit.

After the fall of lord Voldemort, Severus was a frequent visitor in the Malfoy household but it was unusual for Lucius to show up on his doorstep. Especially in the way that he did now. The usually calm and well-groomed Pureblood now looked disheveled and anxious. "I'm sorry to disturb you, but I need a word!" he stated, voice betraying a sort of urgency.

As much as he liked Lucius, Severus was not sure that this was a man he wanted to introduce to his daughter but before he could come up with any sort of a good excuse for denying the man entry, Lucius had pushed past him and was heading into the living room. Severus followed and quietly pushed the door to the kitchen closed on his way. He hoped that at least Arsenia would have enough good sense to take it as a sign that she should stay inside. He did hear a slight noise from the question and held his breath for a second but no one came out.

Lucius was already seated on the lumpy couch and eyeing Severus's bottle of fire whiskey. He made a quick note to put that away. What he did know of insolent teenagers was that they tended to drink alcohol at the worst times and he didn't even want to think what would happen if Arsenia got into wizard whiskey. Most muggles had issues handling wizard alcohol.

"So," he asked as he went to get two glasses and the bottle, "what brings you to my door?" It was a bit early for a drink but Lucius looked like he needed it.

Lucius waited until he was handed a glass and then took a sip. Finally his features relaxed a bit and he sighed. "You heard about Sirius Black escaping?"

"I did, yes. Rumor is, he is going after the Potter kid. If you're worried about Draco, Dumbeldore is taking precautions and so am I." Black was after Potter but there was no telling what a deranged lunatic might do to anyone else in his way.

Lucius shook his head. "I'm not worried about that. Well, I am a little. Narcissa too. We don't want our child to get hurt if that Black decides to blow up half of Hogwarts to try and get that Potter." He took another sip. "No, what concerns me more is that..." he tried to find the words, "I am worried...He was in the inner circle, wasn't he?"

Severus cringed."I told you, I was never made aware who the spy in the order was." If he had known it was Black, he'd have warned Dumbledore. Hell, he'd have hunted Black down himself before the bastard could cause Lily's death.

"I know, I know. But do you think that means that he didn't know...us...either?"

Severus arched an eyebrow trying to figure out what his friend was talking about. "What do you mean?"

Lucius put his empty glass down and sighed. "He never had a trial. Times were a bit messy. They were hunting people down left and right. And somehow...I don't know, the documentation was lost, no one really demanded a trial or anything. They just sort of forgot him in Azkaban and no one complained about it."

In fact, Severus hadn't been aware of it, but he could not say he was surprised. There were more Death Eaters to find and put on trial and as for Black, everyone just wanted to sort of forget his treachery. They didn't want to believe that. Not to mention that the attack on Longbottoms had immediately drawn away attention from him and to the new monsters.

"Well, if they catch him now, things will be different!" Lucius was finally ready to stop circling the topic. "I heard from Cornelius that he is desperate. He wants a win, his support being at an all time low. And he has decided that the best way to solve it is to have Black sentenced to the dementor's kiss."

"Couldn't happen to a nicer fellow." Severus stated bitterly, thinking of Lily.

Lucius, assuming that this was simply about Severus's lingering anger at the tormentor from his school days, nodded. "I agree with your sentiment. But they can't sentence him to a Dementor's kiss without a trial and at a trial-"

"You're afraid he'll implicate you as not being imperiused?" Severus cut in. "I understand But do you think Fudge would let it get that far? Even if they question Black, they won't want it to become common knowledge he never got a trial. People might hate him but some of them will still dislike the lack of due process."

"So you think I should convince Cornelius to keep it under tight wraps?"

"I think first they have to catch Black. And even then it is unlikely that the Dark Lord gave him a list of all his followers. It would have been reckless. None of us really knew if we weren't in the inner circle." He put his glass down. "I don't think you have much to worry about!"

Lucius looked up. "You think so?"

"I do."

The other man nodded hopefully. "I...thank you. And I'm sorry for bursting in here, I just..."

Severus knew of course. They had not been imperiused. It was all a lie and the thought of it all coming down on their heads was hard on Lucius. He stood up. "One more thing. If anything happens..."

"I'll look after Draco. I promise."

Lucius seemed relieved. "Thank you." He shook his head. "I'd better get going then! I'm sure you have things to do!"

Severus walked with him to the door. Back at the living room, Arsenia moved out from behind the armchair where she had thrown herself and making as little noise as possible moved back to the kitchen, closing the door carefully behind her. A few seconds later when Severus returned, she was cheerily washing dishes.

* * *

In the afternoon Arsenia crawled up in her room with a book and Severus decided it was time to call the lawyer and investigate a few details he had neglected to ask before. Telephone was one of the few muggle luxuries he had kept, though more out of necessity than sentimentality. He still had a few people who were easier to reach the muggle way. The lawyer answered on the third ring and when Severus introduced himself, what followed first was a resigned sigh.

"You called me to tell me you can't take her, didn't you?"

"What? No!" Severus shook his head, momentarily forgetting that he was not visible to the person on the other end.

"Ah, good, then what can I help you with?" the man asked, obviously relieved.

"I...I would like some information about her if possible. I have gathered a few things from her but she is not very forthcoming!"

There was a short silence on the other end. Then the man coughed. "What...what would you want to know?"

"Her mother Margaret Blake. How did she die?"

Another few seconds of silence. "There was a car accident. Hit and run."

"Intentional?"

"Why would you ask that?"

Severus hesitated. "I was just curious. So it wasn't intentional?"

"The police didn't think so." he hesitated a moment. "But Arsenia...the poor girl. She took it hard. You know how it is. She needed someone to blame. And with an accident...the driver was never caught."

Severus nodded slowly, thinking back to what he'd seen in her memories. "I see. Tragic."

"Yes indeed." the lawyer sounded relieved that Severus wasn't pushing the issue. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"She mentioned she was in a reform school for some time. I'd just like to—"

"She's not dangerous!" the lawyer hurried to assure him. "She is just angry. As I said, she took her mother's death hard. She vandalized a man's house. It was just acting out."

That sounded encouraging. And here Severus had been considering if he could leave her alone in his home. Then again, he wasn't sure he trusted the old lawyer either. "May I ask who's house?" he asked after a second.

"Just her guardian at the time. Her...uncle. The mother's brother. She..." he hesitated, "You have to understand, this was very out of character for her. But she lit his desk on fire."

Severus didn't respond to that and for a few seconds there was silence on both ends, only disrupted by the lawyer's nervous breathing.

"One more thing," Severus finally asked, "How many guardians?"

"How many guardians she's had? Five. But as I said, if you just give her a chance, she can be really charming!" the lawyer sounded desperate, pleading. Severus pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. He wondered if it was worth it asking for the details of the five guardians but opted against it for now.

"Thank you for the information. Have a nice day!" He hung up without waiting for a reply.


	7. Chapter 7

In hindsight, Severus should have known that he had messed up. The trouble is, in the next few days he fell into a rather comfortable routine. When Arsenia was in a good mood, she was almost tolerable company and when she wasn't in a good mood, she usually stuck in her room blasting music in her ears. When she had the headphones on, he just left her be and usually her mood improved. He did consider bringing up what the lawyer had told him but couldn't bring himself to potentially ruin the sort of peace they had developed.

And then of course the day came by when he could no longer put off telling her that she had to go to a boarding school. Severus had gone out of his way to find a proper school only to come across the obstacle that she had already been thrown out of two of the best for fighting. A third was ready to take her though. Severus hoped that him spending his own money, which he had accumulated quite a bit in the years past for brewing special potions in his spare time, on a good school would make her less reluctant.

Finally, two days before the start of the schoolyear he sat her down. She seemed in a good mood and he'd bought tea and biscuits to soften her. It was a strategy that had previously worked on Draco when he had to deliver bad news. "Arsenia," he began and before the words were even out of his mouth, he knew he should not have let her get the impression she would not be sent to one. Her face fell and oddly to Severus so did the temperature in the room.

"I found a school." he said softly.

Arsenia folded her arms and arched an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"You can't stay at Hogwarts. If you could, I'd make it happen," he wasn't even lying, if there was a way to stuff her in some remote corner of the castle without subjecting her to all the politics, prejudice and trouble that came with his world, he would have.

"Right," the girl replied, her voice full of sarcasm, "of course you would. But you just _can't_!" She drawled the last word out mockingly and Severus felt a bit of irritation.

"Yes, I can't. I mean it." he replied sharply, "I can't just turn my whole life upside down." He knew this was disappointing for her but she was being wholly unreasonable. He was her father and she should trust his judgement. If he said that was the best choice, she should obey. "You should be lucky they even want you after you got kicked out of a damn reform school! You are going there in two days and that's final!"

Arsenia stared back at him, her lips pressed into a thin line. Then she stood up so fast, her chair fell on the floor with a loud thud and her cup toppled over. Before Severus could tell her to sit back down, she was out the door. He ran after her but at the door stopped. He had no reason to chase her through the neighborhood, he thought bitterly. All her stuff was upstairs so she'd have to come back for that when she had calmed down and chosen to be reasonable. With a sneer he pushed the door back close and stalked back to the kitchen. At least with her out of the house he could use magic to clean up her mess, he thought as he retrieved his wand and with a quick wave disappeared the tea spill.

* * *

There was a part of Arsenia that had known this would happen but that didn't mean it hurt any less. She didn't want to admit it but she had actually somewhat enjoyed the company of her latest guardian. Sure, he was on occasion mean and most of the time not very cheerful but he let her be and so far had not judged her for certain mishaps in her past.

But well, she had been wrong about that, hadn't she? He had just waited to throw it in her face at the most opportune moment. Arsenia stopped at a creek and kicked a rock into it. Now he'd finally stopped playing around and said out loud what he thought. He didn't need her disrupting his life. As usual, that would mean she'd be sent away. And what hurt the worst was that he hadn't even run after her. He had just let her go.

She found a bigger rock to sit on and stared at the flowing water in anger. She should have known better. She really should have. But for a few days she dared to dream that she had found some normality again after…after she lost her mother.

She should have not let herself be so naïve. She hadn't _lost_ her mother. Her mother had been _killed_ and there could be no normal after that. Arsenia put her head in her hands and quietly began to weep.

* * *

After a three hours of waiting, Severus started to get restless. Arsenia had been out in Cokeworth with him a couple of times but she didn't know the place that well and as the day grew later, it was more and more likely she'd run into the more unsavory characters that the town had to offer. Four hours later he cursed fate for always saddling with kids who had the survival instincts of lemmings. He disliked Harry Potter for numerous reasons of course, some much more important, but still one of them certainly being that keeping that boy safe from harm was about as fun as carrying water in a sieve. Five hours later he could wait no longer, grabbed his coat and headed out the door to bring his lost daughter back.

As he pulled the door of his home open, he was nearly struck in the face by a man who had raised his hand to knock. After getting a glance of the newcomer, Severus almost wished he _had_ been punched so he'd have had an excuse to deck Remus Lupin right then and there. He had no idea how the man had found his home. He suspected that it had something to do with Dumbledore and he cursed under his breath. The old hovel at Spinner's End was his last sanctuary but lately there were more people waltzing in and out than at the Leaky Cauldron before the start of the schoolyear.

Severus paused and gave Remus Lupin one long glance. He looked a bit worse for wear but other than that, ever the charming schoolmate that nearly killed him. "What the hell do you want?" he demanded loudly.

"I just wanted to thank you for all that you're doing," Remus began and Severus wanted to strangle him. That Lupin actually had the audacity to stand there and act like he was taking the highroad was worse than all the sneers and schoolyard insults.

"I know we've had our differences in the past but I'm glad you can see past them." The vein on Severus's forehead was beginning to look far more pronounced than normal as he clenched his teeth. _Differences in the past_ was such a neat way to refer to harassment and attempted murder. He realized the nails of his hands were digging into his palms and he took a single step forward.

"Let me make one thing clear. I will tolerate you. I will brew your potion. But other than that I want absolutely nothing to do with you. Now get off my property and get lost!" his voice had lowered to something like a hiss and he was fairly close to lunging at the man if the werewolf didn't have the good sense to do as he was asked.

Remus paled a bit to Severu's great satisfaction but he didn't back away. "Severus, please, let's be civil about this-"

"Oy, I think he told you to take a hike so I think the best thing to do here is to take a hike!" a familiar voice stated.

Severus felt a mix of relief and new irritation as he first saw that his wayward daughter had returned and second realized she was sticking her nose into his business. At least she didn't look injured so Severus didn't feel that guilty for turning towards her and snapping: "Stay out of this!"

Arsenia ignored him. She stepped closer to Remus so they were now nose to nose and looked up at him. "Are you hard of hearing by any chance?"

"Miss, I just wish to have a word with professor Snape," the man replied softly. "Then I'll leave. I don't want any trouble."

Arsenia frowned. "He doesn't look like he wants a word with you and unlike you, I _do_ want trouble. As much as possible. So, I'm going to count to three. And when I get to three, I will open my pretty little mouth and start screaming. And then _professor_ _Snape_ can pretend you're a creep and in righteous anger punch you right in the face."

"Arsenia…" Severus tried, but his chastisement was half-hearted and died on his lips.

She finally glanced at him, then looked back at Remus and grinned. "I think he looks like a man who'd welcome any excuse to hit you!"

Remus looked unsure of what he should do. Arsenia looked quite serious but he didn't want to leave his conversation unfinished. He glanced at Severus but the other man gave him a venomous yet unreadable look.

"One." Arsenia declared mockingly.

"Please," Remus tried to reason with the girl. He didn't even understand where she had come from or why she was so hostile towards him.

"Two." the girl replied.

The man hesitated, then decided to cut his losses and nodded. "I hope you'll at least consider it, Severus."

" _Professor Snape_ ," Arsenia interrupted icily "Th-"

Remus turned and fled.

Arsenia watched him go, then turned back to Severus, her face displaying anger. "Don't think this means you're forgiven."

"Where are you going?" Severus snapped.

"Your delinquent daughter is going to take a nap!" without sparing him a second glance, she stormed inside.

Severus remained standing on the lawn, confused. Part of him was still irritated that she would intrude in his affairs as if he needed her help. That she would be so rude and insufferable to an adult and not respect them at all. Except Remus Lupin wasn't just any adult and Severus actually felt a strange warmth in the very bottom of his gut that the girl had come to his aide. She hadn't fallen for Lupin's mild demeanor or soft way of speaking. She had stuck by Severus even though she was angry and that was a nice change.

* * *

Upstairs, Arsenia sat on her lumpy bed, pulled out her small battered black notebook and made another observation about the sort of guests her father entertains. After a moment she also added the curious case of him being referred to as a professor rather than a teacher. It occurred to her that she still didn't know what subject her father taught. Though some snooping around the house told her that it was likely chemistry. She hadn't gotten the change to try to pick the lock of the laboratory downstairs.

Then Arsenia lay down and pondered on the situation. Actually, she'd done quite a bit of that already at the creek and come to a decision. This new guardian, for all his faults, was at least more interesting than cousin Morgan and less homicidal than aunt Rebecca. The way Arsenia saw it, she could fight him on being sent to a boarding school and risk getting flung straight back into the arms of the old lawyer or she could play along, go to the boarding school and have the change to continue her investigation at least during the Christmas holiday and maybe some weekends. All she had to do, was guilt Severus a bit into promising to come visit her or take her out somewhere when she was not in classes.

She smiled contentedly. It would work like a charm. And if it didn't work, she could just start another fight and get kicked out of her third school. Idly, Arsenia picked up the brochure to the girls' academy her father had chosen and began flipping through it.

That's how Severus found her, asleep on the bed and the pamphlet having fallen on her face.

* * *

Severus was happy when the next day passed relatively peacefully. She had seemed to have accepted her new school after all and despite Severus's initial suspicion, he opted against trying to read her mind and instead managed to get roped into more than one promise of taking her back to Spinner's End on weekends. He mused she was quite like Draco in how manipulative she could be if a bit more charming. They went shopping for school supplies and Severus felt almost…good…about his decision. He still didn't feel great but he was used to no longer having complete peace of mind. That was something he had deprived himself of when he told Lord Voldemort the prophecy.

Arsenia on her part fully intended to keep her promise. It's important to be fair to her and note that for others might contest it later. She played along and did her best to behave. She packed her bag and on the day was up bright and early when they were supposed to head for the train station. Severus had given her strict instructions on getting to the boarding school and even managed a kind of an apology for not being able to go with her on her first day. He had arranged for someone from the school to meet her at the other station but he himself had Hogwarts meetings to attend.

He did bring her to King's Cross and saw carefully that she got on the right train. Arsenia put away her luggage, sat down on the bench and fully meant to let the train carry her off to the next big adventure. Unfortunately, she looked out of the window five minutes before the train was supposed to leave. And there on the platform she saw a familiar face.

The shabby stranger who had wanted so much to talk to her father was shuffling along, carrying a couple of cases. Arsenia bit her lip as she examined him. She tapped the notebook in her pocket and felt torn. There seemed to be a perfect opportunity to now find out more about Severus's acquaintances. It would be nice to be able to put a name to the face. She frowned trying to read the tag on his bag but the man was way too far.

Severus on the other hand was nowhere to be seen and thus would not notice her taking a little detour…After a moment of careful consideration, or at least as careful as a fourteen-year-old girl would be capable of, she grabbed her suitcase and quietly slipped off the train onto the platform. The stranger had not noticed her so she had the perfect opportunity to follow him until he stopped at the right platform.

The train behind Arsenia made a noise suggesting it was about to leave but when she glanced at the board, she saw there was another train going to the same location in just an hour. Surely there was no harm in going with the later train. Arsenia looked around to ensure her father was nowhere in sight and then slipped like a shadow after her prey.

The man moved through the station towards a ticket box between platforms Nine and Ten. He hastened his step and Arsenia frowned. The barrier seemed quite solid. She moved faster but the man didn't stop either. Why on earth, Arsenia wondered, was he headed straight at it? Could he not see it? This would only lead to—

No collision. The man had disappeared.

The first idea that came to Arsenia was that it was a trick of light. The second was that the man was a ghost. The third was that there was no better way to find out but give it a try herself. She straightened her back, got a better grip on her suitcase and displaying as much confidence as she could, to make up for the fact that she really felt virtually none, headed straight for the same solid barrier.

For a moment she felt like she was in a dream. She could already envision the inevitable disaster as she slammed straight into the cold stone and fell over, utterly humiliated, but her feet were locked on the path. She could not force herself to stop or even remove her gaze from the target. Staring ahead, she walked, head held high, into the barrier.

And out the other side.


	8. Chapter 8

Arsenia came to a sudden halt as she gazed around in wonder. She was still in a train station. Just on a completely different platform. The sign hanging high showed 9¾ as the platform number and in front of her was a bright red steam engine. It was beautiful. Arsenia took a step closer as she stared at in excitement, even the shabby stranger forgotten for a moment.

"You, girl, what are you doing?"

The loud voice made Arsenia almost jump as did the heavy hand that landed on her shoulder. A strange man in a pointy hat was pointing a thin stick at her face and by his stance she figured she ought to be afraid.

"Lost, are you?" the man asked, "A muggle?"

Arsenia's mind went spinning. She didn't know what a muggle was. She did know she wasn't supposed to be there and that she had no desire to get kicked out of wherever here was. She thought quickly when something caught her eye. The nameplate on the train spelled out in large letters: "Hogwarts Express"

"I…I'm going to Hogwarts, sir," she replied, "Please don't point that in my face." By the way the man was brandishing it, it was more than likely a weapon and even if it wasn't, she didn't fancy getting an eye poked out.

The man relaxed a tiny bit but the suspicion in his eyes stayed. "Off to Hogwarts, eh? You don't look like a student."

Arsenia pursed her lips and frowned. "Well, I _am_ one."

The man lowered his stick but didn't put it away. "Oh you are? Then tell me, girl, what is the name of their current headmaster?"

Arsenia felt herself calm a bit and brushed the notebook in her pocket. "Albus Dumbledore!" she declared victoriously.

The man eyed her one moment longer then let her go. "Sorry, miss. I meant no offense. It's just, muggles have been stumbling through the barrier all morning. Mere moments ago we had to deal with two drunks." he tapped at his left temple as if that somehow explained how he dealt with them.

Arsenia nodded, anxious to get away. "I understand of course." She grabbed hold of her luggage and headed straight for the train, trying to make it very clear that she knew where she was going.

And where she was going, was to get a closer look of the train. Now she was entirely convinced something strange was going on and Arsenia had never been all too good at letting things go. Certainly there was no harm in popping her head in the train for just a few seconds.

She lugged her suitcase up the stairs and stepped into the peculiar train. There she came to a halt and looked around in awe. The whole train was unnecessarily pompous. Not only had Arsenia never heard of a private school so posh it had its own train, but this was a steam engine. There was no reason—in her mind, at least—for such an old fashioned train to still run, except to satisfy someone's need to show off. Not that she minded of course, Arsenia quite liked trains of all kinds. On the other hand though, it only served to fuel her curiosity about what the hell kind of school her father was teaching at.

"Oi! Who are you?" demanded a voice and Arsenia looked up. She saw a young boy in a strange black robe, lugging forward his own luggage that for some reason seemed to also include a cage with an owl, and come straight at her.

She bit her lip and mustered every bit of confidence she could. "I am a student going to Hogwarts!" she replied.

The boy looked her up and down with an expression she didn't quite like. He was tall and muscular, with blondish hair and wearing a green and silver tie. After a few seconds the boy sneered and nodded. "Muggleborn," he hissed, and even if the word made no sense, Arsenia could clearly sense the insult in it. Then the boy shook his head and ducked in a compartment.

Arsenia arched an eyebrow. She had half a mind to storm after the boy and make him eat the insult but she reminded herself that that was not likely a smart move. Instead she inhaled and exhaled a couple of times, then turned around to see the rest of the train.

She didn't have a chance. Suddenly more students were filing into the train, pushing past her and picking compartments. Some of them gave her mildly curious glances, most just ignored. Arsenia was going to get off the train. Honestly, she was. Until she realized that the owl the first boy had been carrying had not been a freak occurrence. A bunch of students had cages. Others had cats running at their feet. One or two even held toads. And then there were the ones with brooms.

Arsenia could not dream up a single reason why anyone would bring a broom to a private boarding school. Her imagination didn't stretch that far, no matter how hard she tried. Not until she noticed the first pointed hat.

The idea was totally ridiculous of course. It was probably just a weird first day tradition. Maybe the school in question had a proud history of burning witches that they liked to celebrate in such a fashion. Maybe they prided themselves on being descendants of a famous street sweeper, who saved the life of a king and was knighted for his troubles. Anyway, she really had to get off the train and return to her own school and maybe later ask her father for an explanation. Certainly there was no good that could come of more investigating on her own.

Except there was a loo to the left of her and before she could really even consciously make the decision, she was already slipping into it, dragging her suitcase after her and quickly locking the door.

Arsenia leaned against the door, her heart beating in her chest so bad that she thought it would jump out of her throat. Her mind was screaming at her to get the hell out, find her own platform and do as she was told. She might not have liked her father all that much, but children were supposed to obey their parents, weren't they? And she certainly didn't want to get shipped to the umpteenth guardian for ticking off her father. But her feet were frozen in place and she couldn't, or wouldn't, move.

Only when the train whistled again and she heard the engine start, did she finally collapse on the trunk and exhale. There was nothing to do anymore. Whatever was coming, was coming. All she could do now, was deal with the consequences.


	9. Chapter 9

If there were any phones at Hogwarts, Severus would have been in for a very bad day. However, that modern invention had not yet reached the school. The phone at Spinner's End rang and rang until finally the headmistress of a certain academy for young girls gave up and stopped calling. So Severus had a quite good day. In so far as he'd ever consider the first day of the school year as a good day.

He went to a meeting of all the professors, sneered at Minerva's enthusiasm at the prospect of another year with a bunch of dunderheads, tolerated Albus's short speech about new security measures and then slipped away as quick as possible to catch a few brief moments of peace before madness (and werewolves he had no desire to see) descended upon the school.

Severus was pleasantly surprised to realize that for once Albus had not seen fit to meddle in his life. The rest of the staff seemed blissfully unaware of Arsenia's existence, just the way Severus had hoped to be able to keep it. Back at Hogwarts and away from his daughter, he felt more sure in his decision to ship her off to the boarding school. It wasn't the solution she had wanted but it was the solution that would keep her safe even if the worst happened in the Wizarding World. It also meant Severus didn't have to deal with her until the next break or maybe a weekend here and there.

That was about as much thought as Severus spared his daughter before moving on to more pressing issues like the horde of little fools about to descend upon him. Which was why the thought never occurred to him, that his newfound daughter might have not gone where she was supposed to go. If only he knew the truth…

* * *

Travelling in the loo wasn't a very comfortable method. For one thing, Arsenia had to deal with people coming and going, jiggling the doorknob and trying to get in. Finally she scrawled into his notebook the sign "Out of Order", ripped out the page and risked pulling the door open to attach it to the knob on the other side. That gave her some peace to then really think about what she had done.

The problem with Arsenia, even though she herself was blissfully unaware of it, was that she didn't know she could get off the figurative crazy train. Her mind didn't see the obvious solution of getting off at the next station and catching a train to her original destination. Her mind saw only the road that led to Hogwarts. And as such, she began working up a plan that would lead to that goal.

First she recognized that in a private boarding school she'd stand out like a sore thumb. She needed a uniform which by the looks of it, for these kids were black robes. Swiping one turned out to be surprisingly easy. She found a compartment left empty for a second and slinked off back to the loo with a black robe and yellow and black tie. She wasn't sure what the colors meant but she figured she'd just have to roll the dice with them and hope for the best. Putting it on and examining herself in the small mirror, Arsenia felt she could sell the look as long as no one asked too many questions.

She did consider stealing some more supplies but couldn't quite convince her conscious that she needed an owl enough to justify taking one by force. She also decided against a broom as it seemed not all students had one either. Finally Arsenia chose to settle just for the robe, sat back down on her suitcase and watched out the small window as trees flew by. The watch on her wrist showed she had been travelling for over a couple of hours. The green flashing past was almost soothing and after another couple of minutes, she gave in and let her mind drift off to dreamland.

* * *

 _"_ _Mother, wait!"_

 _Arsenia knew it was going to happen before it did. Time had slowed around her. Her mind desperately screamed for her to move but her feet seemed rooted in the ground._

 _"_ _Mother!"_

 _She turned and smiled at her. She raised her hand to wave. Arsenia heard the car come. Why didn't her mother? Why didn't she get out of the way? She was about to die._

 _Finally her feet came loose and she stormed forward, even though she knew it was too late. The impact was a dull thud. Seconds, maybe minutes passed and then the body hit the sidewalk, long blonde curls spilling around her face. There was blood._

 _A pair of hands grabbed Arsenia. Someone was shouting. Was she shouting? She struggled and tried to get her mother but couldn't, no matter how hard she fought. Even though she'd seen it coming, she didn't realize it had really happened before she heard the sirens of the ambulance. That's when the reality sank in. Her body went weak and she collapsed on the pavement._

Arsenia woke with a sharp jolt as she heard the crash. She was lying on the floor, panting heavily. It took a few moments for her mind to wrap around what was going on. She was cold. Very cold. Like she had been dumped in ice water. But she was also covered in sweat from the nightmare. She staggered to her feet and dragged herself to the sink. A few splashes of cold water helped clear her head, then she drew the robes tighter around her shoulders and turned.

The door was open and she came face to face with a redhead about her age. He had a concerned look on his face. "Everything alright? I heard screaming!"

Arsenia blinked and ran a hand over her face. "I…I think so. I just fell asleep and had a nightmare."

The boy nodded sympathetically. "Yeah, the Dementors came to our compartment as well."

"The Dementors." Arsenia repeated.

Her confusion must have been evident because the boy rushed to explain: "Yeah, nasty creatures. They feed off of happiness. I suppose they were looking for Sirius Black." He shook his head. "Don't feel bad. They get to everyone."

Arsenia stared at him for a few seconds, her mind slowly catching up with the conversation. "Right." she said, as it seemed the boy was waiting for a reaction. "Right. I guess they just caught me off guard."

The boy smiled, apparently relieved that she was alright. Then his eyes fell on her suitcase. "What were you doing in here anyway?"

Arsenia gave him the glare she kept for the very stupidest of questions but when the boy had the good sense to blush, softened a bit. "I came to change into my robes when someone locked me in here."

"Oh. That was not nice of them."

"Indeed."

The boy hesitated, apparently debating whether to say something more. Arsenia arched an eyebrow and waited, then the boy reached a decision. "Would you like to come to our compartment for the rest of the ride? I promise we won't lock you in a loo?"

Arsenia hesitated. This was a perfect opportunity to sneakily gather some information. This was also the perfect opportunity for her to get miserably caught. In the end the deciding factor was not wanting to fall asleep on the floor of the loo again. She nodded and grabbed her suitcase. "Show me the way!"

The boy relaxed and smiled. "Excellent. Oh, I'm Fred by the way. Fred Weasley. You're a Hufflepuff, right? I haven't seen you before."

Arsenia smiled back at him, hoping very much that being a Hufflepuff was not a bad thing, "I like to stay invisible. I'm Arsenia. Arsenia Blake."

"Pleasure to meet you, Arsenia."

* * *

As she sat, her head resting against the cold window and listening to the three boys chattering in the compartment, Arsenia quietly contemplated her sanity. To her surprise, her reaction to seeing a leaping chocolate frog was only a mild squeak. When Fred sent her a look, she quickly made an excuse about still being startled from the nightmare.

After that she set down her suitcase where the boys showed her, picked an empty seat and just kind of accepted the reality. Or, to be fair, she hadn't quite yet decided yet, what she had accepted. Either she was completely insane or she was on a train to a magic school. Arsenia rested the urge to ask that someone pinch her to wake her just in case she was still in a strange dream. All she could decide was that if she was insane, so were the people she was surrounded by.

The boys were discussing something amongst themselves. Fred had introduced them. The other, identical redhead was George and the third boy went by Lee. They had seemed surprised by Fred coming back with a girl but now were taking it in their stride. Luckily after Fred's very quick explanation they were happy to give her sympathetic looks and otherwise let her be. Even if Arsenia's pride had been a little hurt that Fred had shared finding her on the floor of a loo.

She tried to listen in on their conversation and gather bits of information while her mind was still trying to wrap itself around magic. There were also a lot of words she didn't understand. Slytherin and Gryffindor stood out most. Apparently the boys were Gryffindors and she was a Hufflepuff, whatever that meant.

After some minutes passed by, she did get herself together enough that when Fred asked her to join in a game of exploding snap, she bravely joined in. As long as she didn't stop to consider the impossibility of spontaneously exploding playing cards. She managed to blame her frist shriek of shock also on whatever Dementors were but seeing George and Lee exchange suspicious glances, Arsenia realized she had to get herself together and not keep acting so surprised.

Her new resolve was then immediately tested as she was offered an innocent jelly bean by George. In hindsight, she should have been perceptive enough to notice the way Lee snickered at the seemingly nice gesture. However, in her haste to act normally, she promptly popped the candy in her mouth and bit down.

It took all her resolve not to scream as she realized that not only was the candy the flavor of a really quite potent pepper, there was actual steam shooting out of her ears. Her eyes were watering but she was full of desire not to react like someone who had never been exposed to any wizard sweets.

Apparently though, that was not the normal reaction either because when she, through her eyes that threatened to start expelling tears like a suddenly opened dam, Arsenia saw three boys with genuine awe on their faces stare back at her. She swallowed the rest of the candy whole, careful not to bite into it, then with considerable effort forced herself to smile and look straight at George, who had offered her the candy and who looked especially impressed.

"That was fun. You've got anything else?"

For a moment there was silence, then the boys broke into a laugh and Arsenia felt fairly confident she had just earned their respect.


	10. Chapter 10

Arsenia was very fond of euphemisms. Her current favourite was "blow a gasket". It was a good phrase because it described perfectly the mounting pressure of rage on her father's face before the seal inevitably failed and let it all come out. She was starting to worry though, because the man was an alarming shade of crimson that could most definitely not be considered healthy. She had half a mind to say so but just as her lips parted to let out the formulated sentence, her father turned and glared at her in such a way that made her voice die in her throat.

Surprisingly though, when the man opened his mouth, his voice was deceptively silky and calm: "So, what exactly did you think you were doing?" The question seemed to be addressed at the two boys behind Arsenia and she found rather unfair that he'd assume someone other than her had been the architect of her destruction. If he was going to be angry with her, he might as well be angry knowing the full extent of her involvement. Arsenia was fairly sure that she was being sent back to the lawyer anyway.

"You were keeping secrets!" she declared, her tone shrill and accusatory.

Severus Snape turned to glare at his daughter, the vein in his forehead pulsing violently. "And you decided that gave you the right to flaunt every single rule?"

"Technically," Arsenia began, (never before had any adult appreciated her starting a sentence with "technically", but she just couldn't help herself from trying) "Technically, I didn't flaunt any rules. The rules, if there even are rules in this place, would presumably apply only to the students, of one I decidedly am not because apparently, I am not good enough to be one here!" By the end she was almost shouting, her own cheeks feeling hot and certainly red.

The candles on Severus's desk flickered a little. For a moment he seemed about ready to throttle the girl but then he merely raised his hand and pinched the bridge of his nose, shutting his eyes as firmly as possible. He seemed to be desperately wishing that when he opened them again, he'd find himself alone in his office with no meddlesome Gryffindors or errant daughters, nursing a firewhiskey and looking forward to another year of the hell he knew that used to be his life. To think just hours ago, everything seemed to be running the right course with him sitting at the welcoming feast, listening to Dumbledore's inane drivel of a speech and trying very hard to enjoy a slice of pumpkin pie.

* * *

The welcoming feast was something Severus didn't actually hate, loathe as he was to admit it to anyone. He didn't like the never-ending influx of new dunderheads of course, or most of the old ones. He definitely didn't like seeing the face of one Potter boy again and he certainly didn't like being this close to Remus Lupin. But he liked the abundance of food and warmth and even the comfort he found in the fact that the Wizarding World hadn't gone to hell just yet. This year, of course, that was soured by the prospect of dementors around the school who, even with him occluding, were not pleasant. The prospect of Sirius Black showing up bothered him less. As far as Severus was concerned, thirteen years of rotting in Azkaban were not nearly enough. The man deserved to be put to death like a rabid dog. In fact, in the ugliest part of his heart he found the thought of Sirius Black showing up at School rather nice because it meant Severus would have an excuse to kill the man once and for all.

Thus, Severus raised his goblet of pumpkin juice to his lips once more and scanned the room, his lips curling into a sneer when they passed over Gryffindor table, softening back a bit seeing his snakes and souring again as he saw the bunch of new Ravenclaw students, eager for knowledge and quite certainly ready to disrupt his classes by asking the most off-topic but detailed questions. He ignored the Hufflepuffs as he usually did, thus remaining blissfully unaware of a certain girl in a Hufflepuff tie doing a remarkable job of not gaping at everything and anything new that she saw.

If Arsenia had taken any time to contemplate the situation, she'd have considered herself as having lucked out immensely. If she'd pillaged the luggage of some poor Slytherin, she would probably have been caught even before she sat down. Hufflepuffs were a more agreeable lot. They weren't naive exactly but they also felt no need to subject to scrutiny any student who seemed a bit out of place. If she said she was a transfer student and she wasn't hurting anyone, it was none of their business.

Unfortunately, what Arsenia _had_ time to consider, was that this plan was in no way viable. Even if she was able to react almost calm and normal when confronted with hovering candles and ghosts and food appearing out of thin air, she most definitely knew she could not do any of these things herself. Although she couldn't resist from trying to snap her fingers under the table, willing something magical to happen… It didn't, of course. And whether it was because there was something in all these people that wasn't in her or because she had not had the necessary training, the fact remained that even a table of these friendly students, she was sure, would not look past her being unable to do magic.

At some point, she had to face that she had had no real plan past sneaking after her father. She also had no plan on how to get to her own school and she didn't feel like hiking across Scotland hoping for a miracle. And she definitely didn't feel like walking up to her father, who she had found at the teachers' table, and confessing what she'd done.

Confessing one's sins had never done her any good. In fact, usually it did a great deal of bad, and so she had learned to keep her mouth firmly shut. Especially considering that her father really didn't look like he'd react within any bounds of the word "fine" to seeing her there.

Arsenia supposed that she could sneak away and then confide in one of the students. Surely a magical school would have magical means of transport that would get her to where she was supposed to be. The twins had been quite nice to her and Arsenia wondered if she could trust them enough to tell them the truth.

Except...any other place she could go to was surely not going to be as exciting as this castle full of magic. The school her father had chosen was probably a good school and she'd be treated moderately well there but Arsenia didn't need magic to know what would happen. She'd be there for a couple of months, her life would get a routine and she'd feel almost normal and then...then things would blow up again. Her father would show up, he'd get scared and then he'd send her back to the lawyer. Again. Like a faulty toaster.

Maybe here it would be different. Maybe if she was given half of a chance, she could be different.

Or maybe starting off by lying and sneaking off would doom her even before anything else happened. Arsenia poked the potatoes with her fork and sighed. Who was she kidding? She had to go back. She had to find a way back to that boarding school and be good and try to enjoy it while it lasted and maybe if she did everything right, this time it would be different. For that plan her best bet was finding Fred and George and asking their help. They seemed resourceful enough as well as not hindered by possible rule-breaking that might be necessary. She speared a potato with her fork and slowly ate it. She would enjoy the feast first and right after that start figuring out how to get out. Hopefully, with a little bit of luck and potentially some charming of her new headmistress and her father would never need know about this incident.


	11. Chapter 11

Her nerve held out until the end of dinner, then once they'd sung the school hymn, that everyone sang to their own tune, she joined a bunch of leaving Hufflepuff students, keeping her eyes on the two readheads. They were easy enough to spot but Arsenia didn't dare get too close to them right away. She did her very best to keep a low profile and not attract unnecessary attention, as she slowly inched toward them through the crowd. She wasn't exactly sure, what she was going to say. She wasn't even exactly sure she could trust them, but she had gone through her options again while savouring the pumpkin pie. And it was glaringly obvious that the other option was her father. And Arsenia was not going to him voluntarily.

She tried to cut through a bunch of people with green and silver ties, stumbled on somebody and was immediately shoved backwards into the Hufflepuffs.

"Stay away from me, idiot," hissed the girl with black hair and a rather intimidating build.

Arsenia whipped her head around towards her and was already ready to reply with something equally as rude, when an older student from Hufflepuff stepped in and declared: "No fighting in the Hall or I will start deducting points, Bullstrode!"

The girl made a face but obviously whatever the threat meant, it worked, because she backed away into the crowd. Arsenia saw fit to stick out her tongue at the girl, before also retreating between the Hufflepuffs. She turned her head and realized with a sudden jolt of panic that she had lost the twins. Arsenia cursed under her breath and began forcing her way to the front as fast as she could without attracting too much attention. She got through the door and finally the crowd thinned. Arsenia burst out and came to a standstill.

The different groups of students were heading off in different directions. The Hufflepuffs were heading down a hallway but the ones in red and gold like the twins were heading up the stairs. Arsenia hesitated. She wasn't sure if they'd immediately call her out for joining them, or if they could care less. Thankfully her choice was made for her as at that very same time the professors started filing out of the Hall and she rushed after the students.

Once she had put some distance between her and the professors, she held her head up high trying to show the whole world that she knew exactly where she was going. Arsenia also began slowing down, putting a bit of distance between her and the group, while still keeping them in sight. She had originally considered going up to anyone in the group and asking about the twins but she really didn't want to be remembered by anyone.

Instead, she walked at a brisk pace while also glancing around a few times. The whole castle was weird. There were suits of armor and paintings and the first time a painting moved, she almost fell over. But all of that Arsenia could handle. Until she stepped on the stairs that the group of students had just gone up from and the staircase moved.

That's when she grasped the banister, her fingers digging in for dear life, sank to her knees and let out a stifled shriek. Stairs were not supposed to move. Just like the paintings around her were not supposed to look at her with bristled confusion and annoyance as she let out another shriek. Arsenia wasn't even supposed to be here in this weird castle where everything was wrong, where everything was so damn wrong and nothing behaved right. She was supposed to be with her mother, going to her nice normal school with normal students like Tristan and Anna, gossiping about her classmates and groaning over her math homework.

And that was never going to happen again. Not after that car had- She dug the heels of her palms into her temples and tried to shut up the noise. She was not going to think about that car. She was not going to imagine the blood on the pavement or the lawyer who had said she could never go home again. She just wasn't.

Arsenia didn't even realize that the staircase had stopped. She had sunk to her knees and was trying her best to control her breathing and she didn't even notice the footsteps on the carpeted steps before a polite cough interrupted her thoughts.

"Are you alright, miss?"

Arsenia blinked, her mind sluggish from the thoughts. The voice was vaguely familiar. She raised her head and looked up.

They both stared at each other and she couldn't tell, who was more shocked. It was the same man he had seen arguing with her father. The man that she had taunted. She had noticed in the Hall that he was seated among the professors but hadn't really paid him any attention. She hand't assumed she'd run into him. Arsenia felt a sinking feeling in her gut and she was quite sure that all of the blood had drained from her face. She blinked at the man, swallowed hard, stood up slowly on shaking feet and then bolted up the stairs.

Arsenia didn't bother checking if the man was following her. She just ran, taking two steps at the time and once off the staircase picking the first hallway she saw. Her feet carried her without thinking, propelling her forward and making her pick hallways at random. She was pretty sure a portrait screamed at her as she flew by but the words got lost as she headed deeper and deeper into the castle.

She also wasn't looking where she was going. This was a fatal flaw that she didn't even consider before she tripped and fell towards the floor head first.

Arsenia had just enough time to reach out and try to brace her fall with her hands but when her hands touched the floor, they went right through. Next thing she knew, she was sinking into something soft and viscous. She felt around with her hands, trying to get a grip, but her fingers just met the same strange substance. She was sinking deeper and deeper, the sludge covering her mouth and nose and making her unable to breathe. Arsenia tried to keep her mouth firmly shut even though she desperately, urgently wanted to breathe. She kicked with her feet and tried to push herself somehow out of this sludge but all her efforts failed and she seemed to just fall deeper and deeper into it.

Finally the need for oxygen overrid her instincts and she felt her jaw open, taking in a mouthful of the stuff.

* * *

A pair of hands snaked around her waist and Arsenia was yanked upwards sharply. Someone, she registered vaguely, was calling her name. She coughed and spluttered as she was pushed to the side, and dollops of slime fell on the cold stone floor. She blinked as she realized, she was able to breathe again, and looked up only to discover a familiar face under a mop of red hair.

"What...the fuck...was that?" Arsenia asked, as soon as she had gotten a couple of lungfuls of air.

The redhaired boy seemed to blush almost as red as his hair. "I-I'm sorry, Arsenia. Oh Merlin, I am so sorry."

Arsenia rolled to her side slowly and dragged herself up to a sitting position. "Fred, what the hell was that?"

"It's George, actually. And that...we were experimenting with something," he replied sheepishly.

Arsenia blinked at him, then turned her head and saw the other twin a couple of feet away. She frowned, concentrating, and saw that there was a very vague ripple in the stone between them.

"Experimenting," she repeated. Very slowly she started pushing herself forward to the rippling. She undid her soiled tie, wrapped it around her hand and dipped it into the floor. Her hand sunk in slightly. Then she looked up at George.

"Why is the floor not solid? I can understand why you have cats and pointy hats and funny robes and talking portraits and flying candles and magic food but why the hell is the floor in this hellhole trying to kill me?" as she said that, her voice grew to a steady crescendo, echoing in the hallway.

George took a swift step forward and covered her mouth. "Hush, don't shout, please, you'll attract someone," he said at the same time as Fred said: "Wait, what? What do you mean you can understand those things?"

Arsenia didn't even think, she reacted on instinct and bit down on the boy's hand. George let out a startled cry and Arsenia pulled away, nearly falling into the rippling floor once again. "D-d-don't touch m-m-me," she stuttered.

George took another step forward but Fred called out: "Wait, don't. We're not going to hurt you, Arsenia."

He drew out his wand and made a complicated motion with it, steadying the floor. Then he crossed the distance and crouched down, still a couple of feet from Arsenia.

"Look, why don't we start this again? The floor was not solid because me and George were experimenting with some spells. We expected this hallway to be empty and we didn't mean for anyone to fall in, I swear."

Arsenia blinked at him, trying to register the words, then nodded slowly. "Just experimenting," she repeated, "What were you trying to accomplish?"

"Turning solid matter into quicksand but we can't get the consistency right," Fred replied softly.

Arsenia nodded. "I...I understand," she whispered, although she truthfully did not understand at all why anyone would need the floor to be quicksand in any circumstance that didn't involve attempted murder. On the other hand, though, George had pulled her out of it, so certainly this deathtrap was not meant for her, which meant maybe she could just not care about it. She leaned against a wall and took a breath.

Fred smiled, seeing that she had calmed down. "Now what about you? Did you get lost on the way to the common room?"

Arsenia shook her head slowly and felt a laugh bubble up in her throat. She wasn't lost, she had been looking for those two exactly and apparently Lady Luck was looking out for her, as even though she had almost sunk, she had also been led right into the arms of the two boys she'd been looking for.

"No, I got lost trying to get to the right school. Do you think you could help me get half-way across country before dawn?"


End file.
